People are often lamenting that they feel

unappreciated and I guess that's one of the main sources of our unhappiness and bitterness. What if we do things for someone without expecting anything? But such a mentality is difficult to inculcate in our quid pro quo society. 

The old man

The old man kisses the almost faded photograph

Dew has gathered on the flowers he left yesterday

His eyes glanced at her epitaph 

The one he wrote the day she lay down to sleep for eternity.

The tears glistened in his eyes 

Dusk has came and he has lost count of the days gone by.

With a limp in his gait,

The old man walked into the shadows of the willow trees.

Alone he walks home now,

The willow trees grazing his head,

Stooped in an eternal bow.

The old man stops and catches his breath, 

And gazes at the evening star.

In his empty house,

He sits and waits for another night to pass.

The house which was once filled with laughters,

Is all but silent now.

The silence so deafening,

That his ear aches 

And his old heart bleeds.

He had once been a lover, a husband, and a father,

But who is he now?

Who is he but a grieved man,

Hoping for nothing more,

Than a beautiful dream,

That will bring her back to him,

If only in that stolen sleep,

If only for one mirthful night. 

Read an article (well technically only the last paragraph) by a pastor where he basically said that we must only surround ourselves with positive energy, so that we can live positively. In order to do that, he only surrounds himself with positive people and avoiding having any conversations with people who are negative. Recently a friend said almost the same thing- that she is afraid of associating with people who are easily depressed. I can understand how hard it is to be around people who are always complaining, whiny, moody, etc, yet at the same time, do we leave these people in the lurch? And just let them stew in all that negativity? The Pastor said that it is easy to get affected by such people but why can't we let our positive energy influence them? 

One day we may be the ones who are down and need someone else to lift us up. 

On another note was talking to a gf over dinner yesterday and she was having second thoughts about marriage. Till this day, I am not sure where my stand is on such issues. Sometimes the lines between love, responsibility, and commitment are blurred. Are we with someone out of love or out of a sense of responsibility/duty or for sentimental reasons? 

When love dies, do we continue to keep on going because we have made our commitment to one another? 

I wonder which is more cruel (whether to the other party or yourself) - to stay with someone out of a sense of duty even though you know your heart is no longer in it, or to leave someone and thus, breaking all promises of commitment? 

Love loses all its beauty,

When it lives in someone else's shadows.

One cannot see the sun,

Only the darkest of skies.

Now

And I do not want to recognize 

That the world is broken.

I do not wish to be awakened 

From my deep slumber.

The harmonica sounds 

The guitar strums

And we merry make

And sing to the country tunes.

Tomorrow and yesterday are forgotten

And we are lost in this moment.

Perhaps tomorrow,

We will remember again,

That the world is a broken place,

But what we own and know now,

Is now.

And time, it doesn't stop.

It moves on without us.

A goodbye, it doesn't leave,

On its path we are ravaged. 

What wouldn't I give 

To stop time in its path.

But it flows, it moves, it runs,

And we can never keep up.

Yesteryears are gone,

And your face I am slowly forgetting,

Bit by bit, time eats away all memories of you,

But still I hold on tightly to what little is left.

Deep down I know,

Who the winner is.

One can never win the fight against 

Time.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery- Paul Webster

Was reading this book some weeks ago before I got distracted by White Tiger. Came back to this book after returning from Africa and learnt that Saint-exupery once did the mail route from france to Africa. Subsequently also learnt that there will be an exhibition of the little prince in Singapore! How timely...can hardly wait for Sunday to come... 

Honestly I am not quite sure why I am so enchanted with the little prince, a simplistic book that's almost "childlike". But maybe this is what draws people in- the pureness of the little prince. 

Will write more on the book after I've finished it. 

Such beauty painted by the hands of God,

And yet despair fills the land of his creation,

The cries of the desperate go unheard,

How long will we remain blind,

How long will we remain deaf?

Only the mouth speaks of the wrath

That has befallen on us. 

We speak against the Holy One in rage,

Spilling untruths and planting insidious thoughts,

Forgetting, forgetting,

That one was sent to love us,

A very long time ago. 

Our souls weep because it remembers,

That there once was pure love,

And it was glorious and it had flourished.

Our eyes will no longer see such glory

Because they are shrouded by darkness,

By our own evil doings. 

E.E. Cummings - carry your heart with me(i carry it in)

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in 

my heart)i am never without it(anywhere 

i go you go,my dear;and whatever is done 

by only me is your doing,my darling) 

                                                      i fear 

no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want 

no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true) 

and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant 

and whatever a sun will always sing is you 

here is the deepest secret nobody knows 

(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud 

and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows 

higher than soul can hope or mind can hide) 

and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart 

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

The first and the last thing on my mind,

But I do not understand the reason why.

To me, you have been nothing but unkind.

And the answers I have tried to find,

But I know I am just wasting my time.

For you, I have nothing else to give

And all I ask is to be free

Farewell I wish to bade to thee

For you have given me nothing but grief.

Humanity

Sometimes one just can't understand the brutality of humanity. How do we evolve into monsters? And what makes us human in the first place? When I see situations like this, it makes me understand why there is a need for Armageddon and maybe even hope for it to come sooner than later. 

The white tiger- aravind adiga

A very entertaining and humorous read. The author is Indian but partly brought up in Australia. I love how he seemingly pokes fun at the Indian culture in a sharp and sarcastic manner. Balram is the lead of the story, a man from a lower caste who worked as a driver for a rich man's son, Ashok, who had just returned from the states. Ashok was more American than Indian and despised the Indian culture of treating servants poorly and giving bribes to just about any officials. Ashok although kind to Balram, ended up dead, by the hands of Balram no less.

The story began with Balram confessing the whole story to Wen Jiabao, the former premiere of China. He chose Wen partly coz of the parallels he drew between India and China but thought China was in a better position than India. 

Readers are treated to the insidious thoughts harboring in Balram's mind and his cleverness. 

Definitely a book worth reading. 

In flight entertainment

Love, Rosie

Kingsmen

Samba 

Force majeure 

Managed to catch 3.5 movies on the flight back to Singapore. 

Loved Love, Rosie and Kingsmen the best. Kingsmen was uber cool with the whole spy thing and insane gadgets. "Manners maketh men" scene was impressive. 

Love, Rosie although technically a chick flick was bittersweet and charming. Talks about missed opportunities and misunderstandings hence taking the childhood sweethearts a decade to finally get together. I guess the fears of rejection often push people apart. 

Samba is a French movie which talks about illegal immigrants from Africa trying to make a living and gaining residence in France. Samba the male lead met a burnt out executive Alice who was volunteering as a social worker and it sparked an interesting relationship. Pretty interesting movie. 

Force majeure is a God knows what language movie that talks about how a small avalanche which hurt no one physically ended up hurting a family emotionally. It's a pretty slow paced one but I think it might be worth a watch if one has the patience. Unfortunately i did not and gave it up halfway.